Abstract The Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research (ABMR) was founded in 1978 at a meeting organized by representatives of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Its mission is to promote the highest values in behavioral medicine research, stimulate integration of biomedical and behavioral disciplines, foster scientific integrity, promote research with high potential for improving public health, and support diversity of ideas, disciplines, and scientific representation within the field of behavioral medicine. The objectives of ABMR's annual meetings have been to provide a forum for established scientists and thought leaders working in the field to share cutting-edge ideas to be exchanged in an informal, yet scientifically- charged atmosphere. The criteria for membership in ABMR are high levels of productivity, excellence and broad recognition for their accomplishments. The annual meetings provide a unique opportunity for well-established scientists to learn about the most recent research in the field, to identify important emerging trends in behavioral medicine, and to help guide national research priorities and policy strategies for improving our national public health mission. ABMR's 39th annual meeting will take place on Jun 21-24, 2017 at La Fonda on the Plaza, Santa Fe, NM. The theme of the meeting is Transdiagnostic Risk Mechanisms: Accelerating the Impact of Behavioral Medicine. The overarching purpose of the meeting is to enrich traditional disease-based models of research and practice by focus on risk pathways and behavioral treatment modalities common to multiple chronic diseases, especially as applied to cancer, inflammation, and psychoneuroimmunology. Symposia are designed to promote cross- fertilization and break disease-based silos through organization by transdiagnostic risk factors, with cancer research results integrated within symposia with findings from other diseases that share common risk pathways with cancer. For example, biobehavioral research from multiple chronic disease perspectives can inform cancer research on factors related to exposure to tobacco and other carcinogens, diet and obesity, adherence to screening recommendations, tumor neuroendocrine microenvironment, angiogenesis, factors controlling metastatic pathways, and the patient response to diagnosis and treatment. Support for this conference will help ABMR provide leadership and guidance for the national research agenda in behavioral medicine to improve outcomes for cancer and other chronic, lifestyle-associated diseases with high mortality rates.